METU Administration Building, Library and Computer Center

The project is designed for the competition on the Administration Building, Library and Computer Center, which will be located within METU Campus in Cyprus.

The designed buildings are located on an alley as the extension of the main backbone of the campus with a square at the end, in the form of a balcony opening towards the Cyprus plains over a cliff.

The Axis of Knowledge on the direction of North-West to South-East, which connects the faculty buildings and cultural venues with the dorms, constitutes the second backbone. At the spot where the two backbones intersect at a right angle, one finds the Square of Knowledge. The square opens in deep perspectives towards Northern Cyprus at one and the university at three angles through the gaps between the four buildings, sitting on the corners of the square.

This position helps a massive mono-block building to stretch towards these two directions and creates a fragmented, pervasive structure. It is these decisions, determined by data on sun and wind conditions, that have helped create shaded and cool outdoor spaces in a region dominated by the hot Mediterranean climate.

Both ends of the Axis of Knowledge are marked by newly planted trees and are supported by canals running across, thus transforming the place into a semi-open, pervasive space.

Design decisions, based on the collective evaluation of such features as weather, function, topography and the general characteristics of the campus settlement and defined by the quality to merge and separate components along two right angled axes, give way to the formation of a useful and bracing structure with the help of interfaces.